Design for the Reykjavík mosque unveiled

The design for the planned Reykjavík mosque ere unveiled yesterday, the Icelandic Natonal Broadcasting Service reports. The designs were made by the architects Gunnlaugur Stefán Baldursson and Pia Backmann. In all 63 proposals were submitted for the mosque.

The Reykjavík mosque The building will be on two floors, feature a 18.5 m (60 ft) tower and a grass covered roof. Photo/Atli Bergmann-Vísir.

The building will include an 18.5 metre (60 feet) tall tower and a grass covered roof. The building itself will be two stories and 640 square metres (6,890 square feet). According to the architects the aim of the design is to merge Icelandic and Muslim building traditions.

The Reykjavík city council agreed to give the Icelandic Muslim Association land to build the mosque in September 2013. The decision was criticized by many who feared that a mosque would be a breeding ground for radical Islam, and would irreparably change the face of Reykjavík and Icelandic society. Recently the president of Iceland has revealed that he was deeply shocked when he learned earlier this year that the government of Saudi Arabia had decided to donate 1 million US Dollars to the construction of the mosque.